White Sox Notes: Shields to the DL, Pelfrey up from Charlotte, and More Bad News for Charlie Tilson

CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox announced on Friday night before their home game with the Cleveland Indians that the club has placed starting pitcher James Shields on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to April 18, with a strained right lat.

Shields, 35, was 1-0 with a 1.62 ERA over the course of his first three starts of the 2017 season, allowing only three earned runs over a period of 16.2 innings of work for the White Sox, and was scheduled to make his fourth start of the season today against the Cleveland Indians at Guaranteed Rate Field. Instead, Mike Pelfrey will make the start this evening after being called up from the Charlotte Knights on Friday evening in a corresponding move to the Shields DL assignment.

Pelfrey, 33, has been bad in both of his starts with the Charlotte Knights to date this season, going 0-2 with a 7.50 ERA in a pair of starts since being signed as a free agent on April 5. Pelfrey has spent parts of 11 seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and New York Mets throughout his career, posting a 65-91 record with a 4.57 ERA.

The White Sox also reassigned catcher Kevan Smith to Triple-A after Friday night’s ballgame to make room for veteran catcher Geovany Soto who was activated from the 10-day disabled list and will rejoin the club today. Before his April 13 trip to the disabled list, Soto was hitting .267 with three home runs and five RBI for the White Sox.

Smith went just 1-11 with the White Sox during the three games that he appeared in since he was called up on April 13.

The White Sox have also transferred rookie outfielder Charlie Tilson to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Pelfrey on the 40-man roster. Tilson has been batting a foot stress reacting since the early days of Spring Training, and was placed on the 10-day disabled list on April 2, and expected to be back sometime in mid-late May, and while no official word has come out of the White Sox front office on the rehab time-frame for Tilson, this move certainly doesn’t make Sox fans feel much better about the future of the speedy center-fielder.

The White Sox (7-8) are back in action tonight against the Cleveland Indians at 7:10 pm (CT) at Guaranteed Rate Field, as Mike Pelfrey will be opposed by Indians starter Carlos Carrasco (1-1, 2.33 ERA). You can catch the action on CSN-Chicago, WLS-890AM, or the NBC Sports Live App.